Safety stirrup

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a safety stirrup for use with horses which prevents a rider&#39;s foot from being caught in the stirrup in the event of inadvertent dismounting of the rider. The stirrup consists of a foot support pivotably held within a mounting member. The foot support can be released at an end from the mounting member and portions of the foot support are separable so that a trapped foot can be released.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to horse riding stirrups and is particularlyconcerned with safety stirrups which prevent the rider's foot from beingcaught in the stirrup in the event of the inadvertent dismounting of therider such as being thrown from the horse.

BACKGROUND ART

Known types of stirrups generally include a D-shaped metal structurewith a slot located in the centre of the arcuate portion of the D toenable the stirrup to be attached to a stirrup strap. In use, therider's foot is inserted into the stirrup such that a base portiondefined by an inner surface of the upright of the D of the stirruplocates against the sole of the rider's foot and the arcuate portion ofthe stirrup locates against the top of the rider's foot. In this way therider's foot is held in place and is not easily dislodged from thestirrup when the gait of the horse increases.

A disadvantage of existing stirrups is that in the event of the riderfalling from the saddle, one of the rider's feet can become caught inthe stirrup. This is particularly the case when a rider is thrown fromthe horse, the swiftness of which does not allow the rider to extract afoot caught in a stirrup. Catching of a foot in a stirrup can causeserious injury to the rider since the rider may be dragged along besidethe horse.

Safety stirrups have previously been devised to overcome some of theseproblems. One form of safety stirrup includes a frangible or weakenedportion of the stirrup located adjacent to the stirrup strap attachmentslot. In use, this frangible portion is designed to break away if therider's foot is caught in the stirrup when the rider is thrown from thesaddle.

This frangible stirrup is satisfactory in that the rider is saved fromfurther injury which may be caused by being dragged along the ground.However, the rider cannot easily remount, since the saddle now has onlyone operable stirrup and the rider may be thrown from the saddle againshould the horse increase its gait. Hence the rider should replace thebroken frangible stirrup before continuing, which may be inconvenient orimpossible.

Also, the frangible stirrup often does not prevent the rider fromsuffering leg injuries. Hence, they are only of limited benefit fornovice or disabled riders. A further disadvantage of these stirrups isthat they are more bulky than conventional stirrups in the region ofattachment to the stirrup strap and this increased bulk often causeswear to the rider's clothing.

An alternative form of safety stirrups is disclosed in Australian PatentApplication No. 62109/90. In this stirrup, the foot is held in arestraint which separates when the restraint is pivoted out of thenormal position of the restraint with a rider mounted on a horse. Thispivoting will occur when the rider is thrown from the horse and theseparation of the restraint results in release of the foot from thestirrup. A disadvantage of the stirrup described in 62109/90 is that afoot must be placed in the stirrup from a particular side for therelease mechanism to operate. Use of the stirrup with the foot insertedfrom the wrong side prevents operation of the release mechanism.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a stirrup whichalleviates or overcomes the disadvantages of existing stirrups.

According to the present invention there is provided a safety stirrupcomprising:

an inverted U-shaped mounting member having means located in the arcuateportion of the U to enable a stirrup strap to be attached thereto;

a foot support pivotally mounted between the extremities of the mountingmember when the stirrup is in normal use, wherein the foot supportcomprises a tread having an extension projecting upwardly from each endof the tread, and a foot upper restraining portion comprising two armswhich co-operate together to form a looped configuration extending fromthe extensions formed on the tread, each said arm being pivotaloutwardly from its adjacent support extension; and

co-operating engagement means between the foot upper restraining portionand the inverted U-shaped mounting member to retain the foot upperrestraining portion in a plane within the inverted U-shaped mountingmember when the stirrup is in said normal use and to thereby prevent thearms of the foot upper restraining portion from pivoting outwards;

wherein said foot support is releasable from said pivotal mounting atone extremity of said mounting member after pivoting of said footsupport from the normal in use arrangement and the other extremity ofsaid mounting member is pivotal outwardly, and wherein said pivoting ofthe foot support from the normal in use arrangement enables the arms ofthe foot upper restraining portion to pivot outwardly and/or said footsupport to release from said one extremity of said mounting member.

The term "normal use" is used in the preceding paragraph and hereafterto denote the configuration of the stirrup when a rider is mounted on ahorse to which the stirrup is fitted with the rider's foot positioned inthe stirrup.

The pivotal mounting of the foot support to the mounting member istypically by way of shafts or pins. Preferably, the pins or shaftsextend from, or are received by, the extensions projecting from thetread.

In the case of the pivotal mounting of the foot support which isreleasable from one extremity of the mounting member, the pivottypically comprises a pin projecting from the foot support which isreceived by an aperture in the mounting member. To effect release fromthe mounting member, the pin can be provided with flattened portionswhich on rotation of the foot support, allow the pin to pass through aslot in the mounting member between the aperture and the edge of themounting member. To aid release of the pin, the walls of the slotpreferably flare outwardly away from the aperture. The angle between theslot walls is typically about 45°.

In a preferred embodiment, the pin described in the preceding paragraphhas a head which prevents excessive spreading of the extremities of themounting member when the pin is located in the aperture in the mountingmember. Advantageously, the head stands slightly away from the adjacentsurface of the mounting member to provide a gap therebetween when thepin is located in the aperture. Depending on the nature of thecooperating engagement means between the foot upper restraining portionand the mounting member, the aforementioned gap can facilitatedisengagement of the foot upper restraining portion and the mountingmember by allowing spreading of the extremities of the mounting member.

In preferred embodiments where the pivotal mounting of the foot supportto an extremity of the mounting member includes a pin having a head, arecess is typically provided in the mounting member around the aperturetherein, which recess can receive the head of the pin when the pin islocated in the aperture. The bulk of the head advantageously lies withinthe recess resulting in the mounting member having a substantiallysmooth outer surface.

In the case of the pivotal mounting of the foot support to the otherextremity of the mounting member, the mounting preferably comprises ascrew which passes from the exterior of the stirrup through the U-shapedmounting member to be threadingly engaged by the foot support. The screwis typically contained within a dual diameter cavity in the mountingmember with the screw having an enlarged head which recesses into thewider diameter cavity. The screw threaded portion of the screw issuitably formed on a narrower diameter section at the end of the screw.

The foot upper restraining portion is preferably arcuate in shape andthe arms preferably cooperate in a male/female arrangement. Thistypically comprises an integrally formed pin extending from the tip ofone of the arms of the foot upper restraining portion which isaccommodated in a complementary shaped recess formed in the tip of theother of said arms.

The co-operating engagement means is preferably a projection formed oneach arm of the foot upper restraining portion, adjacent to the pivotalconnection with the support extension, and an aligned socket formed inthe inwardly facing arms of the inverted U-shaped mounting member. Theprojection is suitably maintained within the socket to thereby preventpivotal rotation of the foot upper restraining means from the plane ofthe mounting member during normal use, by spring-biasing the sides ofthe mounting member against the restraining means. The projections couldequally well be formed on the inwardly facing sides of the mountingmember with corresponding sockets formed in the foot upper restrainingportion.

The pivot between a restraining portion arm and adjacent projectingextension, and the other extremity of the mounting member and theremainder of the mounting member, typically comprises interdigitatingelements through which a pin is passed. The interdigitated elements helpto maintain the integrity of the stirrup when in the normal in usearrangement.

The means for locating the stirrup strap in the mounting member can be aconventional arrangement such as a slot through which the strap isthreaded, or a known toggle-type connection. The former arrangement ispreferred.

Suitably, the tread of the foot support is in the form of a cast plateor slotted plate which is oriented in a generally horizontal plane inuse. Preferably the extensions formed on the tread are walls which areintegrally formed with the ends of the tread.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view in partial section of a safety stirrup inits normal in use configuration and constructed in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the stirrup of FIG. 1 depicting a footreleasing configuration.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view in partial section of another safetystirrup according to the invention in normal in use configuration.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing detail of a portion of the stirrupdepicted in FIG. 3.

BEST MODE AND OTHER MODES OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 in which like numbered parts indicate thesame features, the safety stirrup 10 comprises an inverted U-shapedmounting member 11 with a foot support 12 provided between theextremities thereof. A slot 13 is located in the arcuate portion ofmounting member 11 for attachment of a stirrup strap (not illustrated)in a known manner.

Foot support 12 consists of a tread 14 having projecting extensions 15aand 15b, and arms 16a and 16b together constituting the foot upperrestraining portion of the foot support. Arms 16a and 16b can interlockby virtue of pin 17 at the end of one arm which is received by a recess18 in the end of the other arm (not shown in FIG. 2). Arms 16a and 16bare pivotally connected to projecting extensions 15a and 15b via rollpins 19a and 19b.

The foot support 12 can pivot between the extremities of mounting member11 by means of screw 20 and pin 21. Screw 20 has an enlarged collarportion 22 which can rotate in an aperture in mounting member 11. Thethreaded portion 23 of the screw retains the screw in projectingextension 15b of the foot support. The mounting member extremity isretained by head 20a of screw 20. A gap is provided between theunderside of head 20a and the adjacent surface of mounting member 11 toallow slight outward movement of the extremity of the member duringpivoting of foot support 12 out of the normal in use position.

On the other side of the foot support, pin 21, which extends fromprojecting extension 15a, is located in aperture 24 when the stirrup isin normal use. Pin 21 has flattened sides, one of which is shown at 25of FIG. 2. The mounting member extremity having aperture 24 also has aslot extending between the aperture and the edge of the mounting member.The slot can be seen more clearly in FIG. 2 and an angled face of theslot is indicated at 26.

The mounting member extremity opposite the extremity having aperture 24is pivotable with respect to the rest of the mounting member. Thepivotable portion 27 of mounting member 11 is connected to the mountingmember via pin 28.

The flattened portions of pin 21 in conjunction with pivotal portion 27of mounting member 11, allow the pin to be released from aperture 24when the pin is sufficiently rotated to align the flattened portionswith the slot in the mounting member extremity.

Co-operative engagement means are provided between arms 16a and 16b offoot support 12 and the mounting member 11 to retain the foot support ina plane within the mounting member when the stirrup is in normal use.Such means comprises dimple projections 29a and 29b on each of the armsand sockets 30a and 30b formed in the mounting member. In normal use,the dimple projections 29a and 29b are retained within the sockets 30aand 30b by virtue of the mounting member being spring biased against thearms 16a and 16b of the foot support 12.

In normal use, that is, with the stirrup arranged as depicted in FIG. 1,the rider's foot is inserted through the stirrup from either side to aposition where the sole of the foot rests on tread 14 and the foot uppercontacts the loop, the foot upper restraining portion of the footsupport, formed by arms 16a and 16b. Pivoting of the foot support 12 isprevented during normal riding due to the downward pressure of the footon the foot support and the spring biasing of the mounting memberagainst the arms of the foot support which ensures that the co-operativeengagement means, viz the dimple projections 29a and 29b and sockets 30aand 30b, are maintained in close abutment.

When the rider is thrown from the saddle, reorientation of the rider'sfoot from a substantially horizontal riding position to an inclinedposition causes a turning force to be exerted by the rider's footagainst the foot support 12. This turning force is sufficient toovercome the spring biasing force retaining the dimple projections 29aand 29b in the sockets 30a, 30b and the entire foot upper restrainingmeans pivots out of the plane of the mounting member 11 to a positionsuch as indicated in FIG. 2. Simultaneous with such pivoting, once thefoot support arms have passed the sides of the mounting member 11, theforce imposed by the foot causes the arms 16a, 16b to immediately pivotoutwardly from each other about their pivot points and/or the footsupport to be released from the mounting member extremity havingaperture 24 with pivoting of portion 27. Consequently, the rider's footis released from the stirrup.

In this manner, the rider's foot is prevented from being caught in thestirrup after inadvertent dismounting, thus reducing the possibility ofinjury to the rider. Furthermore, the stirrup is such that it canreadily be returned to its normal in use position by simply pivoting thetwo arms 16a, 16b together, repositioning pin 21 in aperture 24, androtating the foot support back to the plane of the mounting member bymere hand manipulation. This is possible since the spring biasing forceexerted by the mounting portion can readily be overcome by simple handexertion.

This is particularly important to enable the rider to immediatelyremount after being thrown from the saddle.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown safety stirrup 50 havingU-shaped mounting member 51 and foot support 52. With the exception ofthe pivot pin at the bottom left of the stirrup depicted in the figure,all other features of the stirrup are essentially the same as thestirrup depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Pin 53 extends from projecting extension 54 of tread 55 of foot support52 of FIG. 3 like pin 21 of FIGS. 1 and 2. However, pin 53 has a head 56which can be received by a recess 57 in the outward face of theextremity of mounting member 51. It can be appreciated from FIG. 3 thata gap is allowed between the underside of head 56 and the bottom ofrecess 57 to permit some outward movement of the extremity of mountingmember 51 when foot support 52 disengages therefrom.

Detail of how pin 53 can be retained by mounting member 51 and pivotallyreleased therefrom is provided in FIG. 4 where like items areidentically numbered with respect to FIG. 3. Portions of mounting member51 and foot support 52 can be seen, the latter including portion oftread 55. Pin 53, which can be seen projecting from projecting extension54, has flattened sides, one of which is indicated at 58. Recess 57 canbe seen in the extremity of mounting member 51 shown in FIG. 4 plusaperture 59. Aperture 59 has a slot therein through which pin 53 canpass when sufficiently rotated to align the flattened sides with theslot. As in the FIGS. 1 and 2 stirrup, faces 60 and 61 of the slot flareoutwardly away from aperture 59 to facilitate disengagement of pin 53from aperture 59 or fitting of the pin into the aperture.

It can be appreciated that recess 57 is open on the side correspondingto the slot in aperture 59 to permit release of head 56 from the recess.

It can be also appreciated from FIGS. 2 and 4 that tread 14 of thestirrup shown in the former figure includes three cross-pieces whereastread 55 of the FIG. 4 stirrup includes two cross-pieces.

While the foregoing describes preferred embodiments of the invention,various modifications can be included without departing from the spiritof the invention. The releasable securing means for example, couldinclude a variable biasing facility such that the stirrups would requirevery little force to open for novice riders, but much greater force toopen for experienced riders.

We claim:
 1. A safety stirrup comprising:an inverted U-shaped mountingmember having means located in the arcuate portion of the U to enable astirrup strap to be attached thereto; a foot support pivotally mountedbetween the extremities of the mounting member when the stirrup is innormal use, wherein the foot support comprises a tread having anextension projecting upwardly from each end of the tread, and a footupper restraining portion comprising two arms which co-operate togetherto form a looped configuration extending from the extensions formed onthe tread, each said arm being pivotal outwardly from its adjacentprojecting extension; and co-operating engagement means between the footupper restraining portion and the inverted U-shaped mounting member toretain the foot upper restraining portion in a plane within the invertedU-shaped mounting member when the stirrup is in said normal use and tothereby prevent the arms of the foot upper restraining portion frompivoting outward; wherein said foot support is releasable from saidpivotal mounting at one extremity of said mounting member after pivotingof said foot support from the normal in use arrangement and the otherextremity of said mounting member is pivotal outwardly, and wherein saidpivoting of the foot support from the normal in use arrangement eitherenables the arms of the foot upper restraining portion to pivotoutwardly or enables said foot support to release from said oneextremity of said mounting member, or enables the arms of the foot upperrestraining portion to pivot outwardly and said foot support to releasefrom said one extremity of said mounting member.
 2. Stirrup according toclaim 1, wherein said pivotal mounting of said foot support to saidmounting member is by way of shafts or pins.
 3. Stirrup according toclaim 2, wherein said pins or shafts extend from, or are received by,said extensions projecting from said tread.
 4. Stirrup according toclaim 1, wherein said pivotal mounting of the foot support which isreleasable from one extremity of the mounting member comprises a pinprojecting from said foot support which is received by an aperture insaid mounting member.
 5. Stirrup according to claim 4, wherein oppositesides of said pin are flattened which on rotation of said foot support,allow said pin to pass through a slot in said mounting member betweensaid aperture and an edge of said mounting member.
 6. Stirrup accordingto claim 5, wherein walls of said slot fare outwardly away from saidaperture.
 7. Stirrup according to claim 6, wherein the angle betweensaid slot walls is about 45°.
 8. Stirrup according to claim 4, whereinsaid pin has a head which prevents excessive spreading of theextremities of said mounting member when said pin is located in saidaperture in said mounting member.
 9. Stirrup according to claim 8,wherein said head is received by a recess formed in said mountingmember.
 10. Stirrup according to claim 1, wherein said pivotal mountingof the foot support to the other extremity of the mounting membercomprises a screw which passes from the exterior of said stirrup throughsaid mounting member to be threadingly engaged by said foot support. 11.Stirrup according to claim 10, wherein said screw is contained within adual diameter cavity in said mounting member with said screw having anenlarged head which recesses into the wider diameter of said cavity. 12.Stirrup according to claim 1, wherein said upper restraining portion isarcuate in shape and wherein said arms co-operate in a male/femalearrangement.
 13. Stirrup according to claim 12, wherein said male/femalearrangement comprises an integrally formed pin extending from a tip ofone of said arms which is accommodated in a complementary-shaped recessformed in the tip of the other of said arms.
 14. Stirrup according toclaim 1, wherein said co-operating engagement means comprises aprojection formed on each arm of the foot upper restraining portionadjacent to the pivotal connection with the support extension, and analigned socket formed in the inwardly facing arms of the invertedU-shaped mounting member.
 15. Stirrup according to claim 14, whereinsaid projection is maintained within the socket to thereby preventpivotal rotation of the foot upper restraining means from the plane ofthe mounting member during normal use, by spring-biasing the sides ofthe mounting member against the restraining means.
 16. Stirrup accordingto claim 1, wherein said pivot between a restraining portion arm andadjacent projecting extension, and the other extremity of the mountingmember and the remainder of the mounting member, comprisesinterdigitating elements through which a pin is passed.